The sport of hockey subjects its participants to a high risk of head and facial injuries. Much of the risk results directly from the implements used during play of a game. Specifically, the hard rubber pucks used in the game are propelled at extremely high velocities and can produce serious injury when striking delicate parts of a body, especially the eyes.
Hockey helmets have significantly reduced the incidence of head injury and the introduction of protective face guards, including both transparent plastic shields and welded steel-wire cages, have reduced the likelihood of facial injury. Prior protective face guards have exhibited various drawbacks that either limit their effectiveness or render them objectionable to a high percentage of players. For example, plastic shields have a tendency to impair vision by accumulating condensation during certain environmental conditions, while welded steel-wire face guards are relatively heavy and are prone to corrosion and failure at the soldering points.